1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to apparatus and methods for treating the brain. More specifically, the invention relates to apparatus and methods for treating brain tumors, selectively erasing or promoting memories, and treating addictions. Still more specifically, the present invention relates to treating the brain by chemical treatment in combination with selective stimulation of neurons in a target region or regions of the brain whereby blood flow, and thus chemical delivery, to the target region or regions is enhanced.
2. Background of the Invention
Many therapies and/or treatments directed to the brain involve the use of non-selective chemicals. Such non-selective chemicals desirably affect target region(s) of the brain, but may also undesirably affect non-target regions of the brain. For example, chemotherapy drugs may be utilized in an attempt to reduce the size and/or growth of brain tumors. When administered, for example via ingestion of a pill form of the drug or injection directly into the blood stream of the subject, such chemotherapy drugs often non-selectively attack cells in the brain, including, in addition to cancerous cells, non-cancerous cells whose destruction is undesired and produces negative effects in the patient. More selective targeting of tumor cells that minimizes negative side effects produced by undesired drug delivery to non-tumorous cells is continuously sought in the field of oncology. Such targeting generally focuses on modifying the chemotherapy drug itself to only target cancer cells, i.e. modifying the chemotherapy drug or developing new chemotherapy drugs which target rapidly growing cells.
Treatment for addiction generally comprises twelve step programs that help addicts deal with underlying issues causing their addiction. Addictions may be promoted by the dopamine reward system in the brain. Dopamine is released from an area of the brain known as the substantia nigra to the nucleus accumbens. The brain thus rewards the body for things such as activities which provide pleasure, e.g. eating and drinking, and for remembering things related to these activities. With addiction, the dopamine reward system proceeds to reward, not only the addictive activity itself, but dopamine release, and thus reward, may be triggered by various addiction cues. Cue reactivity to addictive stimuli is frequently observed in addiction, for example in drug addiction. Cue reactivity refers to a classical conditioned response pattern that results from exposure of an addict to various addiction-related stimuli. Such addiction cues, or triggers, may be, for example, ads for foods, pictures of or an actual cigarette box, drug paraphernalia such as syringes, or even thoughts of such things. In the case of such addiction, the addiction cues themselves may trigger the dopamine reward system, leading to a need for more and more of the addictive behavior to provide a desired response in the addict. Treatment for addiction sometimes thus comprises cue exposure treatment or CET, which refers to a manualized, repeated exposure to drug-related cues. Such therapy is directed to reduction of cue reactivity by extinction. Such therapy is used in an attempt to desensitize an addict from such cues, for example, by exposing them to the cues without having the addict succumb to the signals and partake in the addictive activity, e.g. smoking, drinking, eating, having sex, etc. In CET, different stimuli are presented in nonrealistic, experimental settings. Such stimuli may be presented, for example, via slides, video tapes, pictures, or paraphernalia.
Many individuals have unwanted memories they would like to forget. For example, persons surviving traumatic experiences may develop post traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. PTSD is one of the most debilitating psychopathological conditions affecting military veterans. In PTSD, the cortisol response of the person, which generally, as a safety mechanism, serves to block such memories from memory, was inappropriate or insufficient to erase the memory of the traumatic event, and the victim thus suffers undesirable and often debilitating memories, which may materialize in lifelike form. Such memories often negatively inhibit the normal functioning of such PTSD sufferers. Treatment for PTSD sometimes involves attempting to desensitize the sufferer to the memory by imaginal exposure treatment. Such imaginal exposure may be virtual reality exposure (VRE) therapy, which is distinguished from typical imaginal exposure by a sense of presence provided by virtual reality. Such imaginal therapy is aimed at facilitating emotional processing of the undesired memories by activating the fear structure via confrontation with the stimuli, which elicits the fearful response, and modifying it. The stimuli may be visual, audio, or a combination thereof. Habituation and extinction processes lead to cessation of the anxiety response to the fear structure. The idea is that forcing the PTSD sufferer to virtually or imaginally re-experience the feared event in a controlled manner thus may lead to habituation of the patient to and extinction of the memory. Such treatment generally requires numerous therapy sessions over a substantial time period. For example, therapy may comprise 10-20 or more individual sessions of 60-90 minutes or more, twice weekly for a time period of more than 5 weeks.
Other individuals would like to enhance memory of certain things. For example, persons, generally the elderly, experiencing undesirable memory loss due to, for example, dementia or Alzheimer's, are generally treated with prescriptions for various drugs. Such people may benefit from treatments effective for enhancing the recall of various important pieces of information, such as medicine needed to be taken, healthcare providers, family members, telephone numbers, addresses, and the like.
Accordingly, there is a need for improved methods and apparatus for treating the brain for brain tumors, addictions, and erasure or enhancement of specific memories.